Unbelievable Photos of History You Probably Didn’t Know Exist

The First Photographed Wheelie – 1936

The first wheelie was actually photographed in 1936 in Ohio. People once thought that this occurred in 1943 when some members from the U.S. Motorized Calvary executed the same stunt for photographers from Life Magazine. However, seven years prior to this happening, this wheelie was actually photographed and included in the book The American Legion in Cleveland.

Teary-Eyed Neil Armstrong After Walking on the Moon – 1969

Taken by Buzz Aldrin on July 20, 1969, this photograph was taken just after Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. When he stepped off of the Eagle, the lunar landing module, he was approximately 240,000 miles from the planet Earth. After 76 hours, they entered the moon’s orbit on July 19. On the following day, the Eagle, manned by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, was released from Apollo 11. Less than three hours later, Armstrong spoke the infamous words “The Eagle has landed”. At 10:56 p.m., Armstrong had climbed down the ladder from the lunar module and had taken his first step on the moon, stating “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”, the world watched as it was broadcast on television.

Baby Cages Back – 1920s

When parents lived in the city but wanted to ensure that their babies received an ample amount of fresh air, a rather odd contraption became quite popular. Often referred to as baby cages or window cribs, these attachable window compartments fit into windows inpiano a similar fashion to today’s AC units. Physicians at that time even suggested “airing” babies to build up their immune systems and tolerance to common colds. This idea came to light for the first time in Dr. Luther Emmett’s book, The Care and Feeding of Children, which was published in 1884.

Prohibition Cow Shoes – 1922

In 1922, Prohibition was in full swing. Lasting all the way into the 1930s, Prohibition banned alcohol, including its sales in public and private places, its production, transportation and importation. During this time, moonshiners would incorporate all sorts of interesting tactics to avoid detection by the local authorities.
Most moonshine stills were hidden in fields or forests, so law enforcement personnel were always trying to follow footprints that could lead to something of interest. By devising “cow shoes”, regular shoes with wooden pieces attached to the bottom so as to resemble the hoofs of cows, moonshiners hoped to elude officers by confusing them into thinking that their tracks did not belong to humans at all. These shoes and the idea behind them faintly resembles the idea born in the midst of WWII, when people would try to fool the Germans by putting the soles of their shoes on backwards.

Women Being Fined For Wearing Short Bathing Suits – 1920

How the times have changed. In the past, there were laws and fines associated that applied to all manner of things, including personal attire. However, the law that really seems to stand out is the old bathing suit law from the 1920s. Women’s swimming attire could not be over six inches above the knee. You may wonder how often this rule was enforced, and quite unbelievably, law enforcement were often called out to the local beach to ensure that a bathing suit was of the designated length, arriving armed with a measuring tape. Fines were issued and, in the most extreme cases, arrests were even made for these infractions. Men were also included in the laws connected with swimming attire. They were not allowed to go shirtless until 1939, and they would be immediately removed from a beach if seen attempting to take off their shirts.

Medical Therapy with Animals – 1956

In the 50s, animals were introduced to the realm of medical therapy, with the hopes that they would assist in calming patients and providing an overall better state of mental health in regards to the treatment that they were receiving. Today, animals are used extensively in medical treatments and therapies, especially dogs. Dogs are primarily known for being utilized to assist the blind and are now even trained to work with patients who have seizures or other similar health issues.
Even though a bit more exotic, dolphin therapy is even being used in some instances. Dolphins are commonly assisting patients that are diagnosed with autism, Down syndrome, and cerebral palsy.

German Troops Raising the Swastika over the Acropolis – Greece, 1941

NASA’s Water Landing Rehearsal – 1966

NASA did a lot of really interesting things to be sure that their pilots were ready for anything during their missions. The space program was very important at that time, not only for the rewards that could be reaped from important discoveries and landings in space, but because it also offered a wonderful sense of hope for Americans across the country. Therefore, NASA pulled out all stops in their efforts to ensure that the pilots could cope with any unexpected surprises, whether in space, on land or on water. The Apollo spacecrafts were designed for the impact of water landings when they arrived back on Earth. This meant that NASA employed all sorts of ways to prepare the pilots for these landings. Many preparations were conducted in the Gulf of Mexico, so that the pilots could learn to adequately deal with the ocean’s conditions. However, other practices were even held in swimming pools, like at their hotel in Houston.

Helmet Testing – 1912

Sunshine for Submariners -1942

At HMS Forth, they ensure that the Royal Navy Submariners, who rarely saw any real sunlight, got a healthy dose through these artificial rays. This ensured they kept up with their Vitamin D, as well as got a little bit of a tan.

Boxing Back in the Day

Boxing is a sport that has always enthralled its fans. With today’s top participants being celebrities in their own rights, glitzy fights in Las Vegas and top-watched pay-per-view bouts excite people all over the globe. With boxing’s many rules and regulations, every measure is taken to ensure that the fights follow lists of safety precautions and are as civilized as possible.
That wasn’t exactly the case in 1897. Make-shift rings could be constructed in a moment with a few crates and a length or two of rope. While the rounds were supposed to be timed, they could often go on until the time-keeper just decided to ring the bell, never wanting to interrupt any real action just to maintain the rules.
Bare knuckle boxing was also popular at the time. Needless to say, broken knuckles were often a side effect of this more extreme, yet more organic form of boxing.

New York World’s Fair, Railroad Pageant

44 million people came together at the Railroad pageant at New York World’s Fair to catch glimpse of a possible future. The latest and greatest in locomotives were exhibited at the fair, similar to the airshows of today.

Shopping Therapy with Pet

Circus Acts – 1924

This image is from the original Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus of Freaks. While this large, profitable entertainment giant still runs circuses across the country, things were a lot different back in the day, when acts were based primarily on those individuals who had a deformity of sorts, which was sensationalized for profit.

Blackfoot Indian Chief Being Recorded – 1916

We all know that the relations between the Native American and people of the United States have not always been calm. However, this Blackfoot Indian chief stepped into the Smithsonian to be recorded speaking about his people in his native tongue.

Grotto in Iceberg

NASA Water Training – 1967

Neil Armstrong may look like he’s just going for a swim, even though he’s in full space attire. However, many of NASA’s water training was conducted in a swimming pool, ensuring that astronauts were fully equipped to deal with water landings.

Starting Of Google

Punt Guns Banned in 1860

Punt gun, a custom-designed firearm of unusual size were used mainly for duck hunting. It wasn’t uncommon for a single shot to kill over 50 waterfowl. As a result they were later banned in 1860s due to depleting stocks of the bird.

Vintage Library in 1928

In 1928, the Los Angeles Public Library devised a program to ensure that even residents that were sick and in the hospital could still check out books from their library to read while they were immobile. What appears to be a bookcase with wheels was used to transport books to several locations throughout Los Angeles.
After several studies were completed on how to lift the spirits of those who were sick and recovering from an illness or an accident, making sure that the patients were entertained and had a way to pass the time kept coming up at the top of the list. It didn’t take long for the Los Angeles Public Library to devise a program to deliver books to patients across the city.

Picture Perfect

Swimwear in 1952 had definitely come a long way from the days of length restrictions and law enforcement agents carrying tape measures when on duty near the beach. A lot of changes came during the war, when economic conditions assisted in passing legislatures to cut down on the amount of fabric required to be used in women’s bathing suits. The fabric that was removed was the mid-section, which gave birth to the bikini right before the 1950s made their mark in fashion history.

No Equal Rights For Women

It’s no secret that it took the United States, along with the rest of the world, a long time to get on board to support women’s rights. Often, women were not allowed to participate in activities that were deemed fit only for men. Sporting events were a prime example of the exclusion of women, and when women occasionally found creative ways to dodge the rules, they were definitely not always met with open arms. Such was the case at the Boston Marathon in 1967. Although she wasn’t the first woman to run in the race, Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to compete as a registered, numbered participant, allowing her to run and finish the Boston Marathon, even though she was met with opposition, some even physical, along the entire way.

Lifeguards 1920s

Weird Bicycle for Four in 1939

In October of 1939, Charles Steinlauf showed off his invention in Chicago, Illinois. This two-story bicycle could transport Steinlauf’s entire family. He would sit at the top of the bike, guiding its direction with the help of a large automobile wheel. His wife would sit below him on a platform, all while operating a sewing machine as she was in motion. The Steinlauf’s son would help pedal in the back, while their daughter rode on the large handlebars in the front, with her feet on a metal platform. When the bicycle was still, the legs of the sewing machine would keep the entire contraption from tipping over and crashing. This interesting mode of transportation was dubbed the “Goofybike”. While it was never mass produced or sold to the public, it was definitely a curiosity.

Concentration Camp Squabble – 1945

Prisoners from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp took this chance to beat a former kapo, who was a prisoner put in a leadership role, often overseeing labor and punishing other prisoners. Needless to say, they weren’t too popular in the camp.

Newspaper Selling During Civil War -1863

During the civil war era, newspapers were quite dominant medium of communication. In this picture, a newspaper vendor is seen selling at a Union camp in Virginia during the outbreak of civil war in 1863.

President Nixon Confused On Using Chopsticks

San Francisco Fire And Earthquake In 1906

This picture was taken on April 18, 1906 by Arnold Genthe when a devastating earthquake destroyed the San Francisco city. This also resulted in a fire across the gulf regions and west coast of America.

Diphtheria Treatment – 1937

Liberty’s Head – 1886

As the Statue of Liberty was being assembled, it became a pretty big deal to sneak around and try to gain photo opportunities during various stages. However, having a photo with the head was by far the most popular.

Mississippi Steamer Boats – 1907

NASA’s Massive Chalkboards

Before there was PowerPoint, iPads and all the other electronic devices that we don’t know how we’d live without, people found all sorts of ways to still manage to solve all of life’s problems and blaze trails leading toward new and exciting adventures. NASA would use these gigantic chalkboards, so tall that ladders were needed to climb to the top to finish equations, draw diagrams, jot down calculations and write codes that eventually changed the world.

Gas-Free Baby Stroller – 1938

During WWII, common citizens, especially throughout Europe, weren’t taking any chances at all, where their children were concerned. However, still not wanting to miss that noonday stroll, this contraption was invented to be sure that no toxic fumes were breathed in by the infant.

Macabre Advertisement -1944

In Papua, New Guinea, taking this new anti-malaria drug, Atabrine, was serious business. With so many to-the-point advertisements floating around during WWII, the promotional team for this important medication wasted no time in spreading the word about just how important is not to ever skip a dose.